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Recognizing your weaknesses is a real strength
Betty Boyd Business Management, Services & Risk ManagementWe are all flawed in one way or another. Most people choose to put an emphasis on their strengths in order to help them succeed. What about your weaknesses? In fact, it is even more essential to understand your weaknesses.
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Get visual with dashboards and data walls
Robert C. Harris Association ManagementThe problem was serious, and the executive director was under fire. He explained, "The board thinks membership should grow faster." In his nine years of working at the association, the net growth of membership averaged 5 percent per year. Through a tough economy and significant environmental threats, the growth continued with the hard work of staff and committees.
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Recruitment marketing in the digital age
Shawn Smajstrla Association ManagementIn a perfect world, your association provides such value to members that you don't even need to recruit. Members rave to friends and colleagues, and the membership simply sells itself. Our reality tells a different story, though, and membership marketing is a vital component of any association's existence.
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Changing dynamics in the board room
William Pawlucy and Karlene Belyea Association ManagementWhen it comes to attracting young people to leadership positions, associations have their work cut out for them. As of the first quarter of 2015, the millennial generation is the largest portion of the U.S. workforce and your association's market of members and leaders.
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Is the franchise model good for associations?
Robert C. Harris Association ManagementNonprofit associations and for-profit franchises share a drive for good customer service, brand awareness, delivery of products and services, and sustainability of the organization. But when I describe the association concept to volunteers, they are more focused on committees, member growth, fundraising and conferences.
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What can we do about free riders?
Robert C. Harris Association ManagementIn economics, the free rider problem is described as a situation where some individuals in a population either consume more than their fair share of a common resource, or pay less than their fair share of the cost of a common resource.
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3 ways to turn millennials into association members
Julie Bernhard Association ManagementThe millennial membership mystery has had association executives scratching their heads for quite some time. Unlike the previous generation, Generation Y has only one priority: they come first. From their selfie obsessions to their helicopter parents, outsiders have decided this squad operates in an entirely different reality than their baby booming predecessors.
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Successful boards govern more, manage less
Robert C. Harris Association ManagementThe board settled in for a productive meeting. The agenda listed several significant items, including the approaching legislative session, a fundraising campaign and the selection of the site for the 2018 conference. The initial 60 minutes entailed listening to a dozen committee reports (which actually took 90 minutes). Then came the first item requiring a motion — selection of the 2018 convention city and hotel.
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10 questions: Do you really know your members?
Randall Craig Association ManagementYou invest in events, send out emails, educate them, certify them and collect their dues. But how well do you really know your members, both potential and existing? Beyond the basic demographics, perhaps not as well as you might think. Test yourself: Do you capture the answers to these 10 questions?
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Creating more engaged boards
Robert C. Harris Association ManagementWith 1.5 million nonprofit boards in the U.S., many struggle to attract and engage good leaders. Complaints about directors often sound like this: "They lose steam. A few quit coming to meetings. The passion they expressed has waned."
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